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Nickel Boys

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Nickel Boys
Theatrical release poster
Directed byRaMell Ross
Screenplay by
Based onThe Nickel Boys
by Colson Whitehead
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJomo Fray[1]
Edited byNicholas Monsour[1]
Music by
Production
companies
Distributed byAmazon MGM Studios
Release dates
  • August 30, 2024 (2024-08-30) (Telluride)
  • December 13, 2024 (2024-12-13) (United States)
Running time
140 minutes[3]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$23.2 million[4]

Nickel Boys is a 2024 American historical drama film based on the 2019 novel The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. It was directed by RaMell Ross, who co-wrote the screenplay with Joslyn Barnes, and stars Ethan Herisse, Brandon Wilson, Hamish Linklater, Fred Hechinger, Daveed Diggs, and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. The story follows two African American boys, Elwood and Turner, who are sent to an abusive reform school called the Nickel Academy in 1960s Florida. The film is inspired by the historic reform school in Florida called the Dozier School for Boys, which was notorious for abusive treatment of students.

Shot in a first-person point-of-view, filming took place in Louisiana in late 2022. The film premiered at the 51st Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2024, and is set to have a limited theatrical release by Amazon MGM Studios on December 13, 2024.

Premise

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In 1962 Jim Crow era Tallahassee, Florida, young African-American Elwood Curtis is falsely accused by cops of being an accomplice of stealing a car. He is sent to a segregated reform school called Nickel Academy (a fictionalized version of the Dozier School for Boys). While there, he forms a close friendship with a boy named Turner as they try to survive the abuse by the school and its corrupt administrators.[5]

Cast

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Production

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Director RaMell Ross

The adaptation of Colson Whitehead's 2019 novel, The Nickel Boys, into a feature film was reported in October 2022. RaMell Ross signed on to direct, making it his narrative feature directorial debut. Joslyn Barnes co-wrote and produced and Whitehead served as executive producer. Aunjanue Ellis, Ethan Herisse, Fred Hechinger, Hamish Linklater, and Brandon Wilson were cast in the lead roles.[6]

On an estimated production budget (before tax incentives) of $23.2 million, principal photography took place in Louisiana from October to December 2022.[4][7] Shooting locations were in LaPlace, New Orleans, Hammond and Ponchatoula. The office building of the Lafourche Parish District Attorney was used as a filming location in Thibodaux in early December.[8]

In a unique filmmaking approach for viewers to see the plot unfold directly through the eyes of the two protagonists, the film was shot in the perspective of the first-person point-of-view with a 1.33:1 aspect ratio.[5] Ross explained this process in an interview:

"The film is conceived as all one-ers. In one scene, we shot everything from Elwood's perspective, and then everything from Turner's—one from the first hour, and then the other for the second. Very rarely did we shoot both perspectives on a scene, though, because of the way it was written and scripted. We don’t always go back and forth. So it's shot like a traditional film, except the other character is not there. They're just asked to look at a specific point in the camera. Typically, the other actor is behind the camera, reading the lines and being the support to make the other person feel like they're actually engaged with something relatively real. Because they're all one-ers, though, the choreography is quite difficult".[9]

Release

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Nickel Boys had its world premiere at the 51st Telluride Film Festival on August 30, 2024.[10] It was the opening film at the 62nd New York Film Festival at Alice Tully Hall on September 27, 2024.

The film was originally set to have a limited theatrical release in New York City on October 25, 2024 and Los Angeles on November 1, before streaming on Prime Video on an unspecified date.[11] However, the film's release was pushed further, with the film now scheduled to premiere in New York City on December 13 and in Los Angeles on December 20; Amazon MGM Studios is additionally preparing prints on 35mm film for the updated release.[12] It is set to be released by Curzon Film in the United Kingdom on January 3, 2025.[13]

Reception

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On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 84% of 37 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 8.6/10.[14] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 89 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".[15]

Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter praised the film and cast performances. She highlighted the unique visual style, cinematography, and Ross's artistic portrayal of the novel's story.[2] Pete Hammond writing for Deadline Hollywood criticized the "overlong" runtime and Ross's use of first person POV-style shooting of one character talking to another that is not seen on camera and only heard. He wrote, "It is a dangling conversation approach that goes quickly from being intriguing to being annoying, pointing to artifice rather than serving the story", and added, "I hope it doesn't prevent some audiences from getting the larger point that we should be talking about".[16] Maureen Lee Lenker of Entertainment Weekly felt a disconnection with Elwood and Turner by the POV approach, explaining, "Both Wilson and Herisse give subtle, affecting performances but the first-person approach means they are often not on camera. Their performances are largely experiential, which makes it difficult to connect with their work on an emotional level".[17]

Carla Renata writing for TheWrap applauded Alex Somers and Scott Alario's music score, casting and performances. She expressed: "This may sound like another Black trauma porn motion picture sanctioned by Hollywood to exploit Black history for financial gain. Thankfully, through the lens of Ross, this narrative doesn't fall into that trap we have seen for decades. Ross [...] brings his unique cinematic sensibility, allowing audiences to experience this type of story from a sensory perspective".[18] IndieWire's David Ehrlich gave the film an "A" grade, emphasizing the film's visual style and storytelling technique.[5] David Canfield of Vanity Fair wrote the film's "avant-garde approach is cannily balanced by its moral urgency and aesthetic rigor. Like last year's The Zone of Interest, it all but reinvents the language for movies about a particular, dark historical chapter, and seems primed to spark conversations about both its content and its form".[9]

Accolades

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Award Date of ceremony Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
Middleburg Film Festival October 20, 2024 Special Achievement in Filmmaking Award RaMell Ross Honored [19]
Chicago International Film Festival October 23, 2024 Vanguard Award Honored [20]
Gotham Awards December 2, 2024 Best Feature RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, and David Levine Pending [21]
Best Director RaMell Ross Pending
Breakthrough Performer Brandon Wilson Pending

References

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  1. ^ a b "Nickel Boys". New York Film Festival. Retrieved August 6, 2024.
  2. ^ a b Gyarkye, Lovia (August 31, 2024). "Nickel Boys Review: RaMell Ross' Remarkable Colson Whitehead Adaptation Takes Risks That Pay Off". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  3. ^ "Nickel Boys (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. September 19, 2024. Retrieved September 19, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "Fastlane NextGen: Initial Certification Search" (Type "Nickel Boys" in the search box). Louisiana Economic Development. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  5. ^ a b c Ehrlich, David (August 31, 2024). "Nickel Boys Review: RaMell Ross' Colson Whitehead Adaptation Is a Staggeringly Beautiful Story of Resilience". IndieWire. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  6. ^ Grobar, Matt (October 27, 2022). "Aunjanue Ellis & Four Others Set For RaMell Ross' Colson Whitehead Adaptation The Nickel Boys For MGM's Orion; Plan B, Anonymous Producing". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  7. ^ "Casting call announced for Nickel Boys; filming planned for LaPlace". L'Observateur. September 16, 2022. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  8. ^ Campo, Colin (December 5, 2022). "Hollywood comes to Thibodaux: Filming underway for The Nickel Boys". The Daily Comet. Archived from the original on January 1, 2023. Retrieved January 1, 2023.
  9. ^ a b Canfield, David (August 31, 2024). "The Making of Nickel Boys: How a Pulitzer-Winning Novel Became a Radical, Harrowing Film". Vanity Fair. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  10. ^ Davis, Clayton (August 29, 2024). "Telluride Festival Lineup Includes Nickel Boys, The Piano Lesson and Saturday Night With Tributes for Jacques Audiard and Saoirse Ronan". Variety. Retrieved August 29, 2024.
  11. ^ Feinberg, Scott (August 31, 2024). "Telluride: Nickel Boys, Adapted from Colson Whitehead's Book, Will Challenge Oscar Voters". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  12. ^ D'Alessandro, Anthony (October 2, 2024). "Orion Pictures & Amazon MGM Studio's 'Nickel Boys' Now Opening Mid December". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 2, 2024.
  13. ^ "All Future Releases". Film Distributors' Association. Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved October 12, 2024.
  14. ^ "Nickel Boys". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  15. ^ "Nickel Boys". Metacritic. Fandom, Inc. Retrieved October 5, 2024.
  16. ^ Hammond, Pete (August 31, 2024). "Nickel Boys Review: Film Version Of Colson Whitehead's Acclaimed Novel Is Flawed But Artistic Journey To Hell And Back — Telluride Film Festival". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved August 31, 2024.
  17. ^ Lenker, Maureen Lee (September 1, 2024). "Colson Whitehead's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel gets a staggering, abstract adaptation in 'Nickel Boys'". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  18. ^ Renata, Carla (August 31, 2024). "Nickel Boy Brings Searing Tale of Injustice to Telluride". TheWrap. Retrieved September 1, 2024.
  19. ^ "AwardsWatch - 2024 Middleburg Film Festival Honorees Include RaMell Ross, Danielle Deadwyler; Ed Lachman to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award". AwardsWatch. September 26, 2024. Retrieved September 26, 2024.
  20. ^ Roche, Barbara (September 24, 2024). "60th Chicago International Film Festival full lineup and schedule". Reel Chicago News. Retrieved September 26, 2024.</ref name=":2" "Nickel Boys". Chicago Film Festival. October 21, 2024. Retrieved October 21, 2024.
  21. ^ Goldsmith, Jill (October 29, 2024). "Gotham Awards Nominations: 'Anora' Leads Pack, 'Challengers' & 'Nickel Boys' Among Group Up For Best Feature". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved October 29, 2024.
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